1. Field of the Invention
My invention pertains to a unique simplified system, method and associated apparatus for teaching and implementing musical principles, especially those related to the musical chords of Western Music. More particularly, the Chord Teaching Apparatus of this invention (hereinafter referred to as “Chordteacher”) simplifies learning and teaching of Western Music by putting individual chords on individual chord dials, by putting the Diatonic Octave on its own separate dial, and by putting the simulated piano keyboard and guitar fret board at the user's fingertips.
2. Prior Art in the Field
For the first thousand years of Western Music, the musical staff consisted of 11 lines and 10 spaces, the middle line representing the C note (middle C). Every line and space represented a natural note, the white notes on a modern piano. There were no black notes (the sharps or flats), nor any room for any additional notes on the musical staff. It was a very simple, easy-to-read system.
In time, to simplify the notation and make the staff easier to read, the musical staff was divided into the treble and bass clefts. Each line and space represented the natural notes (the white notes on the piano keyboard) labeled after the first 7 letters of the Alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G.
For centuries in Europe, Western Music was made up of these 7 different notes, and was played in the 7 church modes: Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian (minor), Locrian, Ionian (Major), and Dorian. The most commonly used church mode was the Ionian (Major) mode, otherwise known as the key of C. Musicians of that time were not aware that the Ionian mode is only ⅙ of the music spectrum.
Around 1200 A.D., the Germans started at the note F and tried to play Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do. As they played Fa (IV or B natural), they noticed B natural didn't quite sound right. It was just a little too high, and they realized that there must be a note between A and B and they discovered a new note that was there all along in the music spectrum. The Germans called this new note H. This was the first new note ever discovered in Western Music, and the key of F major was born, becoming the 2nd Major Key. There was no room for this new note on the staff. To accommodate this new note, the Germans added a flat symbol in front of the note B, lowering the B by a ½ step. The H note is now known as B flat, or A sharp.
Music grew by a tetra chord counter-clockwise. Now we have 8 different notes, and are playing ¼ of the music spectrum.
Around 1250 A.D., another European started at the note G and tried to play Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do. As they played Ti (VII or F natural), they noticed F natural didn't quite sound right. It was just a little too low, and a new note was discovered between F and G—the 2nd black note which was called F sharpened (sharpened meant to raise). The key of G major was thus born, becoming the 3rd Major Key. There was no room for this new note on the staff. To accommodate this new note, a sharp symbol was added in front of the note F, raising the F by a ½ step. This note is now known as F sharp, otherwise known as G flat.
Music grew by a tetra chord clockwise. Now we have 9 different notes, and are playing ⅓ of the music spectrum.
E flat was probably discovered next around 1300 A.D., and became the 3rd black note. It comes in at the position of Fa (IV) in the key of B flat Major, and the key of B flat was born and becomes the 4th Major Key. There was no room for this new note on the staff. To accommodate this new note, a flat symbol was added in front of the note E, lowering the E by a ½ step. E flat is also known as D sharp.
Music grew again by a tetra chord counter-clockwise. Now we have 10 different notes, and are playing 5/12 of the music spectrum.
C sharp was probably discovered around 1350 A.D., and became the 4th black note. It comes in at the position of Ti (VII) in the key of D Major and the key of D was born and becomes the 5th Major Key. There was no room for this new note on the staff. To accommodate this new note, a sharp symbol was added in front of the C note, raising the C by a ½ step. C sharp is also known as D flat.
Music grew yet again by a tetra chord clockwise. Now we have 11 different notes, and are playing ½ of the music spectrum.
The 5th and final black note discovered was G sharp (also known as A flat) around 1450 A.D. There was no room for this new note on the staff. To accommodate this new note, a sharp symbol was added in front of the G note, raising the G by a ½ step. G sharp is also known as A flat.
This new note of G sharp-A flat makes 7 more Major keys possible: E flat, A, A flat, E, C sharp-D flat, B-C flat, and F sharp-G flat. Suddenly, music grew 6 more tetra chords counter-clockwise and clockwise, completing the circle of the entire music spectrum. Now we have all 12 notes of the chromatic scale, consisting of the 7 original white notes—A, B, C, D, E, F, and G—and the five new black notes—C sharp-D flat, D sharp-E flat, F sharp-G flat, G sharp-A flat, A sharp-B flat. The entire music spectrum consists of 48 notes, 36 steps, and 12 half-steps, encompassing all twelve Major keys.
Sometimes notes are double sharps represented by an X symbol in front of the note to sharpen it twice, raising it by a whole step. Sometimes notes are double flats represented by 2 flat symbols in front of the note to flatten it twice, lowering it by a whole step. Other times, notes that are already sharps or flats need to be natural, represented by a natural symbol in front of the note.
From 1200 A.D.-1450 A.D., the music staff became overcrowded and overwhelmed by 5 additional notes, each having 2 separate names, the double sharps, the double flats, and the natural signs, confusing the formerly simple system. The Willoughby Scale is my personal attempt to fix this confused system and replace it with order and simplicity. It also explores the science of mathematics and harmony for future generations.
Western Music left us with 12 notes that can be arranged in a circle in a clock formation, starting at C up top. Three note chords can be connected in this circle to form triangles, and four notes chords can be connected to form trapezoids. Humans have sung in octaves for centuries in Europe, until the 5 black notes were discovered. However, though the foregoing understanding of musical harmony has allowed me to diagram these chords in their pure mathematical forms, the various inventions of others intended to implement the learning and teaching of Western Music, have been found to be confusing, complicated, and not user-friendly. Consequently, there is a long felt need for further advances in this area.